Can anyone else make sense of this enhanced maternity pay policy?

[WhereverElse2019]

Hi all. This is the maternity pay offered by the company I work for (copied from handbook):

Weeks 1 - 6 : We will top up SMP/SAP/MA/Adoption support to 100% of your Company Average Weely Salary (CAWS)

Weeks 7 - 15: SMP/SAP/MA/Adoption Support as well as 100% of your CAWS

Weeks 16 - 21: We will top up your SMP/SAP/MA/Adoption Support to your CAWS.

Weeks 22 - 39: SMP/SAP only

Am I right in thinking this is basically full pay for 21 weeks? Weeks 16 - 21 make it sound like they offer full pay on top of SMP but that can't be right surely? Not sure if I'm simply not reading it correctly? I'm not currently pregnant or TTC but am thinking of starting next year.

Thanks!

21 weeks full pay
Then statutory

which is reasonably decent

Yes, I agree! Thank you 😊

Agree, 21 weeks full pay but possibly more in weeks 7-15.

You can’t get paid more than full pay whilst on mat leave.

Agree it looks like you somehow get more weeks 7-15?! I'd clarify that with someone.

It’s a really peculiar way to set it out. I get weeks 1-6 are separate because SMP is 90% so it’s a 10% top up. What I don’t understand is the other split at 15/16 weeks unless they really do mean SMP + 100% salary.

Why not? Not challenging, just curious.

Yes, I think it's full pay for 21 weeks and whoever wrote the policy made a small error in wording for weeks 7-15. Having said that, as week 15-21 is the same, it's not clear why it isn't just weeks 7-21.....

It says you get SMP plus CAWS weeks 7-15. So yes, more than full pay for this period.

If this policy is listed in your contract you can insist that they pay it.

It would be perverse to pay people more to be off work than in work.

They could change/correct it pretty quickly - it’s in a handbook not the contract.

Thanks all, glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's oddly worded. I'll definitely ask HR to clarify.

I agree but that's not the same thing as prohibited.

What others have said but whoever wrote that policy needs a kick up the backside.

I would also make sure you know how the Company Average Weekly Salary is actually calculated.

As PP says, check what your CAWS actually is (it’s a defined term so should be set out in the handbook), as it may be less than your current salary (for example, it may be your average salary from your previous 5 years…)

i need some help please, I am 18 + 5 days pregnant, I have been off work since around week 9, so are 12 weeks due to extreme exhaustion and nausea, I have been claiming SSP for the past month or so.. will this affect my maternity pay?

you’d be better off starting your own thread.

the relevant weeks are (usually) weeks 18-25 for maternity pay.

You can pay more than normal pay, it absolutely does happen. If there was a bonus in the salary reference period, or lots of overtime, for example, it impacts the maternity pay. Some people time their pregnancies to take account of this.

And this is why a new thread should have been started instead of bumping this one @CheeryBear2

I’m not sure how to start my own thread sorry

Here

Heaven forbid someone would read the correct information instead of the rubbish you wrote!

What rubbish?